Kuro: A Land in Eternal Night

Chapter 10.1: The Yami

Sergei

Sergei Diskarma sat at the end of the long, cherry-wood boardroom table, his elbows leaning on the smooth surface, hands clasped together, thumbs out, brows furrowed in concentration. A man in his sixties, he looked distinguished, with handsome features, a chiseled jawline and a hawk-like nose. His graying hair, still with streaks of black in it, was combed neatly and slicked back. He wore an elegant black suit, with a blue patterned tie and a white shirt. Gold cufflinks gleamed brightly in the dim light of the boardroom, nestled comfortably against the surface of his cuffed shirt.

One of the most influential men in Kuro, Sergei Diskarma sat atop the massive Diskarma Corporation as the tenth-generation leader and patriarch of the mysterious Diskarma family.

Sergei took a sip of his favorite drink, a golden whiskey laced with the Goddess Essence. It provided heightened allure, a dulling of the senses and an overall sense of well-being. But the added benefit of the Goddess Essence was a heightened and sharpened mind. The drink was very good, well balanced and silky smooth, the taste of it strong, but not lingering. Sergei was quite fond of it, but in this particular time and place, its taste was somewhat diminished. He was not looking forward to this meeting. This meeting and the people in it tended to dull the liquor's effects. In Kuro, there was a popular saying: 'The times and the company dictate the flavor of the drink'.

Sergei put the whiskey down. The ice clinked in the glass as it fell. The golden color of the whiskey shone in the relative darkness, as if light itself had been captured in the drink. The distilled version of the Goddess Essence retained within it the character of light. It was subtle, and not always easily discernible, but the connoisseurs could always tell. The marriage of the whiskey and the Goddess Essence was beautiful. The smoky flavor of the drink was brought out, and the heady liquor took effect, relaxing him.

Maybe this meeting wouldn't be so bad after all.

"The drink again. The drink will be your undoing Diskarma, mark my words." A voice broke the silence, the stillness and the perfect moment created by the whiskey. "Ignore the faces for now, just focus on the voices, not the details," Sergei told himself.

"The drink makes the lot of you more interesting." Sergei retorted. "Sometimes, just sometimes, it even makes you sound intelligent."

"We sent Yin a total of thirty-five billion GEUs in the last three months alone, did you know that?" the voice persisted, cutting through the reverie, continuing to dampen the beauty of the moment.

"Yes, I am well aware," Sergei responded. The euphoria was fast disappearing. He was right. Nothing ruined a good whiskey faster than this group.

"Yin is fighting a war it cannot win. We continue to send it GEUs and it continues to hemorrhage the Goddess Essence. It cannot sustain," yet another voice added.

Sergei sighed, exasperated. He was all too familiar with this grating. But the time had come for this meeting, there was no way around it. He trained his eyes on the Council assembled before him.

Sergei breathed in deep and paused. "My predecessor, Magnus, started all this, ten generations ago. Did you know what Taiyou-Shi was, over three hundred years ago?"

"We are not ungrateful, Diskarma. Please do not throw your family's accomplishments in our faces."

"Before Magnus came, Taiyou was an insignificant island nation. Its primary form of livelihood was fishing," Sergei went on, ignoring the others in the room.

"Three hundred years ago, the profession of GEMining was very much in favor. Hunting for Troves was lucrative, and it brought about a massive influx of adventurers seeking an easy fortune. Magnus was one such individual. But he knew there was more to GEMining than that. He had calculated the routes, pored over what maps existed at the time, and determined that Taiyou was fertile ground. It was literally swimming in the Goddess Essence."

"Is there a point to this history lesson, Diskarma?"

"Yes, quite, so if you'll let me get to it," Sergei downed his whiskey then poured himself another round. "By his seventh year of operation, Magnus had evolved his GEMining into a profitable business, amassing a small personal fortune in the process. He spent nearly all of it to hold a lavish event, inviting dignitaries of foreign nations, most of which had to brave crossing the Great Darkness to get to Taiyou. The invitation was simple enough: 'Come to Taiyou and witness something that will change the face of Kuro forever.'" Sergei smiled and paused for effect. "Magnus took great personal risk. If none of the dignitaries came, he would be sunk and would become a laughing stock."

Sergei got up from the boardroom table and began to pace the room, looking at the graying gentlemen gathered at the table before him. "But come they did, from all corners of Kuro, and they were fortunate to have done so, for it was then that Magnus unveiled the secret to the prosperity we have today: the Kurokyuu Orb." Sergei strode clear across the boardroom toward a cabinet in the corner and opened it, slowly taking out a black globe the size of a fist. "This one is not unlike the prototype he unveiled that day." The black orb activated, and the very essence of sunlight, captured within, glowed brightly. He set the orb down on the boardroom table.

"For the first time in history, a skilled GEMiner was no longer required for the harvesting process. One merely had to put one of these orbs down and it attracted the Goddess Essence to itself, transforming it into usable energy, all in one process. This device you have before you single-handedly ended the GEMiner era and ushered in the wonderful new age we live in." Sergei walked slowly back to his position at the head of the table and sat down.

"What would you have me do, gentlemen? I am the miner, not the creator. Three hundred years later and we have not bettered the simplicity of the original device. I can only take what is already there, not create it out of thin air. I am not the Goddess."

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